


because she's rayla

by wordswithdragons



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, POV Callum (The Dragon Prince)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:41:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24416785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordswithdragons/pseuds/wordswithdragons
Summary: the more he understands her, the more he loves her. OR: how Callum fell in love with Rayla, season by season. [threeshot]
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 108





	because she's rayla

**Author's Note:**

> right now this is just for my "book one: moon" appreciation week i'm doing over on tumblr at raayllum, but expect two more chapters for s2 and s3 respectively sometime in the nearish future. enjoy!

_i._

"Rayla."

The assassin's voice is stern and cold, and despite the terror rising in his throat—this is all really happening, and gods, he'd thought just a teenage elven assassin had been intimidating, but an adult, fully trained one—Callum can't help but commit the sliver of information to memory.

Name. Somehow the fact that the elf girl has a name shouldn't be surprising—of course she does—but it makes her more real, somehow. More... human? Even if that's not the right word, it's all he can think about. She _is_ trying to help them, like she said, and being chewed out by her leader, and Callum is stepping forward before he really thinks better of it, because what does he have to lose, really? He already thought he'd be dying tonight.

"She's not a fool," he declares and both elves look back at him. "What she's telling you is true." Rayla looks _terrified_ , eyes wide and brow slanted, while the other elf draws his bow and goes to aim an arrow at Callum's chest. There's no doubt it would aim true, even when he has to leave her on the roof.

Callum doesn't want to even if he knows he has to. If she's the only elf that will listen, but they're running out of time for him to try and tell his dad, but...

He knows her name. Knows that she's what he thought: not a killer, not an assassin. At least not needlessly so.

And he just might need her if everything goes south.

_ii._

She saved Bait.

Callum is too impressed to care about being smug (because she _was_ hiding something, wasn't she? About the water) as they collect themselves on the shore. Ezran already has Bait in his lap and Callum pats his scarf to make sure it's not too water laden, before he turns to see Rayla wringing out her hair. It curves her shoulders and reveals the nape of her neck and it makes his stomach do a sort of back flip, but that must be because he's glad they're all alive and okay.

He'd felt so helpless watching from the shore, wishes he could've had a better angle of watching her kick the giant fish right in the face. She'd twisted herself out of its maw in a way that could only be described as awesome, and then thrown herself up into the air, and—she was _amazing_.

And beyond courageous, considering how much she hated water.

He adjusts his sketchbook strap and smiles at her. "That was brave, Rayla."

She frowns and shakes her head. "No, I already told you, I'm afraid of water."

Callum steps up the shore towards her. There aren't the same cultural differences between elves and humans as he thought (aka no blood drinking) but maybe this is one of them and he wants to make sure she understands. "I know," he clarifies. "That's why doing what you did is so heroic."

Especially because she has no love for Bait, deep down. She did it because it was _right_. Maybe even against her better judgement.

So when she wishes her parents were dead (it stings, just a little, because that's his reality), when she spills her guts and explains what led her to nearly taking his life and what she wants to do with her life, now, Callum says, "We're in this _together,_ " and means it.

The three (four) of them are a team. Him and her, too, as he pushes away the boat. The new protectors. The day by day decision makers. Someone has to look out for Bait and Ez and that's them now. He knows she'll look out for him, too. Because she's kind hearted and brave and prickly, sure, but also opening up like a book that isn't good at the start, maybe, but... She's his friend, as absurd as it sounds. As for her... Well, he'll look out for her. Make sure she's not going to drown, either.

If she'll let him.

_iii._

It takes a bit of time for Ezran to fall asleep, and Callum considers himself a lost cause. They really all should, he knows. Before the brightness of the Egg could sometimes be a distraction, but now the way it's flickering just worries him past the point of sleep. Rayla settles and sits beside him, occasionally watching him draw. He's glad he's moved past the sketch of his mother now. It's not that he doesn't trust her with memories of his family—gods, had _I do trust you_ really been just earlier that day?—but because it's painful to talk about his mother with anyone but Ezran, honestly, only softened by the fact that stories of their mother is all his baby brother has.

"You really do have a gift," Rayla says quietly, and he pauses in the middle of his sketch of the Egg the way it used to be. Looks up.

"Really?" A smile tugs at his mouth.

She nods, a soft smile on her own face, before it gives way to a wince, just as it had yesterday on the shore. This time Callum knows why, her hand curling over her bound wrist. He frowns and sets down his charcoal.

"I'm sorry," he says.

She tilts her head. "For what?"

"For today. On the mountain. I should have—"

She cuts him off, a tad stern. "You already apologized for that." _I'm sorry if I was a jerk before._ "And you weren't entirely wrong, either," she adds, shrinking in on herself a bit. "I wasn't telling you everything, and I owe you an apology too—"

And maybe she does, he thinks, but that's not the point. "No. I'm sorry that I made assumptions. I thought if you were keeping something from us... from me, it's because—I don't know why, I guess, but—I didn't consider the fact it might be you hiding your _own_ pain. And I'm sorry if I made it harder today. You shouldn't have had to be going through that alone."

"I'm kind of used to it," Rayla admits, almost without thinking, and Callum can watch her catch herself, a warning sign of _Too vulnerable_ practically flashing behind her now wide eyed gaze before she swallows and shifts away.

"Huh. Well, times are changing," he replies. "And you can trust me with your secrets, next time. If you want to." He gives her a small smile. "I'll try not to push."

"Thank you," Rayla says quietly and he's willing to leave it at that. "I really am sorry," she says after a long silence.

She was pushy too, all day. Angry and pushing him away but he shakes his head. "It's okay," he says, and then to placate her when she shoots him a look, "Apology accepted," because she can accept that.

She falls asleep first, huddled close to the fire with her weight resting on the opposite side of her injured hand. He hopes next time she'll be honest about her pain, if not also open, and not wait until her breaking point. It hurts to see her in pain more than he thought possible, especially when he knows he wasn't helping matters, even if she was jerk back to him.

And if she's a jerk to him again, because of something like this, Callum knows he won't push again, now that he knows why. Now that he understands where it comes from. And that she really, really needs a friend who'll have her back the way that she had his today, on the ice.

She hadn't let go of him. Callum just hopes he can return the favour.

_iv._

It's been a long, back-breaking day when they finally reach the Moon Nexus at the top of the Caldera. Lujanne couldn't fit all of them plus Ava on Phoe-Phoe, so they end up walking. Callum sees Ezran slump over against Ellis' back from where he's sharing a ride with Ava, and Zym seems to feel heavier in Callum's arms than ever. Still, he trudges on. The adrenaline and desperation driving them forwards through the last couple of long nights and longer days is starting to fade, but he has to rely on it for a little bit longer.

Rayla must be just as tired, if not more so—until like, an hour ago, she thought she was gonna lose her hand—but she trudges on without complaint, even if he can tell how tired she is by the fact she keeps pace beside him. No longer charging ahead all on her own. It's a change he thinks he likes, all things considered.

Some part of him wants to wallow in the loss of his primal stone, but a larger, stronger part of him is just glad that breaking the stone worked. If not they would have been totally screwed, and Zym wouldn't have been born, and Rayla—

 _I dropped it. This is all my fault... I let you both down. I let the world down._ Rayla would've kept blaming herself for something that was so utterly _not_ her fault and that just isn't something Callum could stand. Seeing her cry, seeing Ezran move to be the one to hug and comfort her, while he stood shock-still. Yelling for her to _hold on_ when the egg had nearly gone over the ledge because he couldn't lose both the world's hope and her in one day.

He's never had many friends and certainly none like her, and not just because she's an elf. Someone who... believes in him and calls him out and yeah the teasing is a little annoying, but she's also very warm and sweet and funny and looks after Ezran. Looks after him.

Callum catches up with her once they reach the actual dwelling and it's almost time to sleep, Ava trotting to the domed doors up ahead.

"You did a good job, Rayla," he says, stifling a yawn. She looks up, wide eyed for a moment. He waves a hand as though that will help him make his point. "With the cliff."

"Oh." Her throat bobs as she swallows and he can practically feel something self-deprecating— _My fault we had to hatch it in the first maybe_ (sort of a maybe-minus)—coming on, so he cuts her off.

"We never could've done any of this without you." He meets her gaze, levelheaded. More words rest on the tip of his tongue. _Because you're brave_ or _You never give up_ or _You're strong and fast_ or—"Thank you."

Her shoulders slack and her fingers rub her now free wrist. Then she smiles, tired but genuinely happy, and Callum is so, so happy he can tell the difference. That he can read her, now. At least a little, and the book is getting better. "You're welcome," she settles on and they walk forward towards the dwelling together.

They'll have time for a bit of a breather, Callum thinks. They can rest and eat. He can write a letter home, explain everything to his stepdad, about the egg... and his new friend and who she is.

Callum knows just what to write.


End file.
